Dining on steak dinners to sack lunches: Lobbyists pay over $600,000 to feed lawmakers, public officials in 2019

Lobbyists spent more than $600,000 buying meals for Oklahoma legislators and other public officials last year, treating them to steak dinners, sack lunches and breakfast buffets on behalf of clients seeking to influence public policy.

Nearly all of the meals were bought in a four-month period: the legislative session that began in February and ended in late May. However, the meals continued after the session in Oklahoma and other states, including Texas, where Gov. Kevin Stitt and some legislators ate at AT&T’s expense before the Red River showdown.

During the session, several legislators ate multiple meals on the same day paid for by different lobbyists.

Lobbyists reported buying three different meals for Sen. Casey Murdock on March 27, starting with a $3.90 breakfast and ending with a $116 dinner.

“How I see lobbyists — I use them for information,” said Murdock, a Republican from the panhandle town of Felt.

“It’s at these dinners, you get informed on issues. And that’s why I try to go to as many as I can.”

Asked whether he could pay for the meals himself out of the $154 per day that legislators who live outside the Oklahoma City area receive for expenses, Murdock said, “I could, but … I mean that’s an option.”

It wasn’t unusual for a lawmaker to eat at lobbyists’ expense on consecutive days during the 2019 legislative session.

Rep. Chris Kannady, an Oklahoma City Republican, ate at least one lobbyist-paid meal a day from Feb. 10 through Feb. 15, took a break on Feb. 16, and then resumed from Feb. 17 through Feb. 20, according to reports filed by the lobbyists who paid for them.

Kannady, who received more than $3,600 in meals from lobbyists in 2019 — with $2,150 of that coming from February through May — declined to comment.

Some legislators mostly avoid the free meals, and one, Rep. Tom Gann, R-Inola, reimburses lobbyists for the meals served at events that he attends at which big groups of legislators are present.

“That was a pledge I made to the voters back in 2016, not to take any lobbyist money or PAC (political action committee) money,” Gann said. “And also we included the meals on that because a voter, in their mind, can’t make that separation.”

Freshman Rep. David Smith, a Republican from Pittsburg County, tried to avoid accepting meals but didn’t always realize lobbyists were paying for the food at events he attended, such as dinners honoring a colleague or when House Republicans met as a group.

Smith said he didn’t have anything against lobbyists or begrudge others for the meals they took.

“I just don’t want to think of me eating well up there while some down here are making it paycheck to paycheck,” he said.

Spike in meals

The amount lobbyists spent on food last year, $608,576, far exceeded the preceding four years, eclipsing even the $541,445 spent in 2017, when lawmakers held two special sessions and were in Oklahoma City much more than usual;

The elections of 2018 brought in more than three dozen freshmen legislators, a new governor and staff and some new secondary office holders. Some of those newcomers were top targets.

One freshman, Republican Rep. Tammy Townley, of Ardmore, was among the Top 10 recipients of meals, with $3,208 spent in 2019.

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Townley had her first lobbyist-paid meal a week after taking the oath of office: a $15 lunch from Greg Piatt, a former Republican House leader who now lobbies for the Independent Finance Institute, the Community Bankers Association, the Oklahoma Energy Producers Alliance and the Oklahoma Pharmacists Association.

Piatt spent more than all other lobbyists last year on meals — $14,387. Piatt declined to comment.

Townley’s next meal came a few days later: a $34 lunch paid for by David Bond, with the conservative think tank Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, a non-profit organization. Bond was the second leading spender on meals in 2019, at $8,049.

Townley declined to comment.

Bond said, "Really, my main goal when I’m spending time with a lawmaker away from the Capitol is just to get to know them better as a person. If they want to talk about OCPA’s objectives ... we can discuss all that as much as they want, but I’d prefer to talk about what’s on their mind that day.”

Top leaders

But the top legislative recipients of lobbyist meals were part of the Republican leadership or the House or Senate Appropriations Committee.

Sen. Roger Thompson, R-Okemah, the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said, “I work year around on the budget, meeting with many different people and organizations. Anytime I meet with a lobbyist, they have to report it. I am very interested in learning all I can about the budget needs and the budget impact on Oklahomans. This requires a great deal of time and many meetings.”

Senate President Pro Tempore Greg Treat, of Oklahoma City, received nearly $3,000 worth of lobbyist-paid meals in 2019, while House Majority Leader Jon Echols, of Oklahoma City, received nearly $2,900 in meals.

Treat, who has been a top recipient for the last five years, can determine whether a bill gets a hearing in committee or on the Senate floor. The biggest decisions go through his office.

In 2019, Treat received five meals from lobbyist Brett Robinson, who represents health insurance, energy, beer and other interests; six meals from Robbie Squires, who represents Cox Communications, the cable and internet provider; and five meals from Mike Thompson, who represents the Choctaw Nation, the Epic charter school company and OG&E. Thompson bought Treat’s dinner on New Year’s Eve.

Treat said, “Mike, Robbie and Brett and their families have been close friends of mine and my family for many years, going back to long before I ever even considered running for elected office. As many friends do, we sometimes pay for each other’s meals. One thing that makes our friendship different is that they have to report buying my meal under the ethics rules for lobbyists regardless of what topics are discussed during the meal.”

Braziliansteak and Longhorns

Townley, the freshman from Ardmore, was also among those who dined at the expense of AT&T in Dallas before the football game between the University of Oklahoma and the University of Texas.

Lobbyist Steve Hahn reported spending $122 per head for dinner at a Brazilian steakhouse the night before the game; Gov. Kevin Stitt and his chief of staff, Michael Junk, and 11 lawmakers were reported as recipients.

The next day, AT&T treated six lawmakers to lunch, at $90 per head. All six had also eaten at the steakhouse.

An AT&T spokesman said last week, “We host many bi-partisan events that give us the opportunity to discuss policies related to our business, employees and community. When hosting these events, we strictly comply with the law and state ethics regulations.”

Hahn bought meals in other states after the session, treating Junk to $82 worth of lunch and “refreshments” at a golf course and resort in southern California; he bought lunch for Murdock and Rep. Marcus McEntire, R-Duncan, at a steakhouse in Tucson, at a cost for the two of $132.

A spokesman for the governor said Junk and Hahn "have a long standing professional relationship, and while there was no official business discussions on this trip, they adhered to the ethics rules on filing the meals."

'I’ll put together a dinner'

Murdock said in an interview he didn’t remember who paid for the meal. He said he, Hahn and McEntire were part of a group that went out to Tucson “to blow off steam.”

Murdock, a Top 10 recipient of lobbyist meals in three of the last four years, said he tries to hear from lobbyists on both sides of issues and that helps set up dinner meetings with them.

“I’ll have a lobbyist come up to me and say, ‘This issue is coming up. Can you put together some legislators to go to dinner and we’ll talk about this?’

“And I’ll (say), ‘Yeah, sure, I’ll put together a dinner.’”

In regard to the $154 per diem for legislators who live 50 miles or more away from the Capitol, Murdock said, “That covers my gas and my apartment rent during session and any food that I have outside of what goes on at the Capitol.”

A campaign report filed by Murdock in 2019 shows he paid his apartment rent in May, the last month of the session, with campaign funds.

'I eat alone a whole lot'

The lawmakers who avoid accepting meals paid for by lobbyists said they meet with lobbyists and respect the role they play but value their own time away from the Capitol. Some said they don’t want a financial connection to a special interest.

Rep. David Perryman, D-Chickasha, said he never eats dinner alone with a lobbyist.

“I am not speaking badly of those legislators who eat a lot of lobbyists' food, but I don't feel the need to socialize with lobbyists or other persons who have an agenda and want to purchase my face time,” Perryman said.

Rep. Mickey Dollens, D-Oklahoma City, said, “I simply don’t have the time for lobbyists' dinners. My two kids under 2 at home are my top priority.”

Rep. Collin Walke, D-Oklahoma City, said, “I have no objection to lobbyist dinners at a philosophical level. At a practical level, I am very protective of my calendar, especially during session. If there is information that I need for a bill etc., then I simply call the lobbyist or arrange another way for me to get the information without taking the additional time of throwing a dinner in.”

Sen. Ron Sharp, R-Shawnee, said, “It is my policy to not break bread with anyone I may determine their legislation is not within the best interests of my constituents. Unfortunately, I eat alone a whole lot!”

Gann, who spent the last 15 years as an internal auditor for the city of Tulsa, said his campaign vow not to accept any money from lobbyists was “a clear distinction between me and the other men that were running. And it was one that the voters went with."

“I think, from a constituent standpoint, they see you’re influenced by outside interests and that you will support them," he said. "And from a legislative standpoint, it’s just the freedom to say ‘no.’ And that’s important to me.”

Note: This story was updated to reflect the new total of money spent on meals in 2019.

Chris Casteel began working for The Oklahoman's Norman bureau in 1982 while a student at the University of Oklahoma. Casteel covered the police beat, federal courts and the state Legislature in Oklahoma City. From 1990 through 2016, he was the...
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